Jurgen Klopp has expressed his surprise that Liverpool managed to sign Roberto Firmino, especially at the price they did
Firmino has been in good form for Liverpool this season, with 6 goals and 3 assists in 15 appearances. He is thriving under Jurgen Klopp, who has got the most out of Liverpool’s attacking trio of Philippe Coutinho, Firmino and Sadio Mane.
Firmino, who joined Liverpool in 2015 for a £29m fee, is no stranger to Klopp, as the former Dortmund manager saw the Brazilian’s exploits at Hoffenheim. Klopp has admitted that he was surprised to see Liverpool land the forward, especially for what he thinks is a very reasonable amount .
“Nobody asked me about him but he was a player I thought was one of the best in the Bundesliga,” said Klopp, according to The Guardian
“So when I saw that Liverpool had signed him I thought, ‘How could Liverpool do this?’ They were not in their 100% best moment and other clubs would have spent more on him, so I thought, immediately, ‘What a good transfer for them.”
“When I heard about it I thought they had made a good signing, because I felt pretty sure clubs would have paid a lot more for him.”
At the time of the move, Firmino was Liverpool’s second most expensive signing behind Andy Carroll. After a stuttering start to his Liverpool career, Firmino has now become one of the most important players in their side. He is fully ingrained into Jurgen Klopp’s football philosophy, and has been a key part of Liverpool’s gegenpressing style this season.
Firmino made the news earlier this week when it was revealed that he had an “anti-Arsenal” clause in his contract, with a buy-out clause set at £82 million for anyone except Arsenal, which Gunners fans everywhere laughed off.
That clearly shows just how highly the Brazilian is rated at Anfield, and Klopp feels that all the credit for signing Firmino goes to the scouts at Liverpool.
“In Germany some people don’t know where it (Hoffenheim) is but, if you play your football there, then you feel it is a tough place and so you know what a decent job the scout did, whoever brought him in for that price,” he said.
Firmino is set to feature for Liverpool when the Reds take on West Ham at Anfield on Sunday.